ROSWELL, N.M. - In an offense-driven contest where both teams exceeded 600 total yards, No. 3 Northwest was unable to contain the nation's leading rusher, as No. 2 New Mexico Military Institute ended the Rangers' season in a 49-30 decision on Sunday afternoon.

NMMI piled up 655 total yards of offense, led by 472 on the ground, as the Broncos improved to 11-1 on the season. The Rangers dropped to a final record of 9-3 for the year and compiled 625 total yards, with nearly 400 of those coming in the passing game.

Northwest locked down the NMMI offense on the opening possession and forced a quick three-and-out, only for the Rangers to also come up empty-handed after two incompletions.

NMMI would turn Anthony Grant loose on the second possession, as the Broncos' star tailback got his team on the board with a 32-yard score for the first of five touchdowns on the day. William Testa followed with the ensuing PAT to give the home team a 7-0 lead.

Northwest answered with a 10-play, 73-yard drive that culminated in a short two-yard score from Jaquerrious Williams. However, the Rangers' point-after attempt was unsuccessful, keeping the Broncos ahead 7-6.

Two plays into the next NMMI possession, the Rangers seemingly caught a break as Grant's fumble was recovered by Jykeveous Hibbler, giving Northwest a short field at the five-yard line. However, the Rangers were unable to reach the end zone, settling instead for a short Eli Hamlin field goal that made it a 9-7 advantage for Northwest.

That lead would be short-lived for the Rangers, as NMMI carried over a 75-yard drive into the second quarter, capped off by another Grant touchdown that put the Broncos back ahead 14-9.

In nine plays, the Rangers marched the ball back into opposing territory at the 28-yard line, only to be stopped on two negative rushes and a pair of incompletions that resulted in a turnover on downs to NMMI. The Broncos promptly responded with a clock-burning drive of 12 plays and 70 yards, which resulted in a short score from Mason Myers and a 21-9 lead.

Facing a critical third down on its own 31 with less than three minutes to go in the first half, Michael Hiers kept the drive alive with an eight-yard keeper that helped steer the Rangers across midfield. A pair of big completions to Jaycob Horn set up a 20-yard score from Williams, pulling Northwest back within a 21-16 margin.

All it took was one play from scrimmage for NMMI to regain momentum, as Grant took off 69 yards down the middle of the field for a quick score that pushed the home team back to 28-16 lead with 48 seconds to go in the first half. Five quick completions from Hiers to Kevin Diaz, Jacoby Jones and Jamie Shaw helped get the Rangers into the red zone, but the Rangers ran out of time and went into the locker room with a 12-point deficit.

Both teams came up empty-handed on its first two possessions of the second half, but the Rangers finally broke the drought late in the third quarter, relying on the rushing attack to propel a seven-play, 67-yard drive. Once in the red zone, Hiers hit E. Jai Mason on a 12-yard passing touchdown that cut the deficit back to five, 28-23.

A failed onside kick helped NMMI start from around midfield, but the Rangers' defense denied the Broncos on fourth and short, setting up Northwest for good field position with 2:46 left in the third. However, Northwest was also stalled on two short rushes and a sack on third down, forcing a 55-yard Tanner Gillis punt that pinned the Broncos back within their own 3-yard line.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Grant broke free once again for NMMI, scoring on an 88-yard carry from the 12-yard line that stretched the Broncos' lead to 35-23.

Northwest countered with a seven-play, 79-yard drive that ended in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hiers to Mason. The score helped pull the Rangers back within five, 35-30, with 11 minutes to go.

Two plays into its next possession, NMMI opened up the passing game on a 63-yard score from Diego Pavia to Terrance Moore that widened the gap to a 42-30 Bronco lead.

From there, the defenses took over, starting first with the Broncos covering two incompletions and a short no-gain completion that forced the Rangers into another punt situation. Northwest would then stuff Grant on two straight carries and cover on an incompletion to set up a punt for NMMI.

With seven minutes remaining in the fourth, the Rangers found themselves in desperate need of points. Facing fourth and long and with the hostile home crowd on its feet, Hiers dropped back and delivered a 29-yard pass to D.T. Sheffield, pushing Northwest to the 21-yard line. The Rangers would power forward to the 11-yard line, but a rare Hiers interception in the end zone gave NMMI the ball with 4:30 to go and left Northwest empty-handed.

From there, the Broncos got into clock-burning mode, forcing the Rangers to begin using timeouts. With 2:35 remaining, Grant broke free on a 53-yard rush that put NMMI on the doorstep of the end zone. Two plays later, Grant provided the touchdown for the opposition, making it a 49-30 advantage.

Northwest got one last possession with 1:42 left and Hiers tossed his final seven completions in a Ranger uniform, pushing his team to the Broncos' 26-yard line as time ran out on an otherwise memorable season.

Grant was undoubtedly the difference-maker for NMMI, totaling 398 yards on 26 carries. On the other side, Williams totaled 156 yards on 17 carries for a pair of touchdowns, putting the wraps on a historic Northwest career. Already the program's career leader in rushing touchdowns, the Tupelo native officially finishes with 37 rushing touchdowns for his career, while his 2,501 career rushing yards stand second all-time.

Hiers completed 32 of his 53 pass attempts with two touchdowns, good for a new career-high in completions for the Birmingham native, despite throwing two interceptions. His 397 passing yards against NMMI moves his final career total to 4,519 yards, still ranking fifth all-time. Hiers also concludes his 2021 season with 3,093 passing yards, joining Will Hall (3,982; 2000), Russell Evans (3,293; 1992) and Gardner Minshew (3,288; 2015) as only one of four Ranger quarterbacks to toss for 3,000 yards in a single season.

Mason and Sheffield both logged over 100 yards receiving, with Mason accounting for 121 yards on eight catches and Sheffield earning 108 yards on six receptions. Sheffield ends his Northwest career with 1,447 receiving yards and moves into fourth for most receiving yards in a season after totaling 1,089 in 2021.

Defensively, Sam Brumfield totaled 10 tackles and Micheal Campbell collected six to lead the Rangers. Mason Myers earned 10 tackles to lead NMMI and Tre O'Guinn added eight of his own.

Gillis punted four times for 166 yards, pinning one punt inside the 20 and booting a 55-yarder. The Lewisburg product now has 23 punts inside the 20, tying Jim Speights (2014-15) for fourth all-time.

With his sixth season as head coach now in the books, Benjy Parker now boasts a career record of 48-14 as the Rangers' second-winningest coach and a .774 winning percentage. Northwest has made the postseason every year under Parker's tenure and dating back to his span as an assistant coach from 2014-15.

Lastly, the Rangers have won 15 games collectively over the past two seasons, including two conference championships and the National Community College Football Championship in 2020. The accomplishments go back even further for the third-year sophomore core that earned a COVID-19 year of eligibility, as the Rangers have sported a 23-6 record since 2019, a stretch that also included a runner-up finish in that season's MACJC championship contest.